Bruno Blog

In today’s society, I am not certain if courage and wit would be two of the virtues that I would highlight from among most human beings. During the times of King Arthur, on the other hand, the bravest were the ones that held other’s acknowledgement; the ones that fought for what they believed until they died, and for what they were told to defend. The ones that weren’t afraid, even when their lives were in risk, those who took action for conviction, because it was their duty to reach the end. Wit was also valued: those who were smart, or the good ‘sneaky’ ones, were the people who survived within the society of the times, in which hierarchies were extremely defined, rich and poor. But the witty ones also had a good weapon in a world filled with corruption and badly handled power, like today.

It horrifies me to turn the TV on and watch the news, given the fact that this world is full of even worse than ‘sneaky’ individuals, and the worst of all is that we have to put up with them all. However, there are very few brave people, or honored people, that can reach the top without converting to the ‘dark side’. It is a pity that so few are actually authentic, brave and willing to fight for what they believe. New generations have it all, and maybe it is our fault if they don’t value many of the things they owe and don’t know how to fight for them. It all comes given to them. It is for this very reason that I think a reading like the saga I present here can help new generations to see the importance of values within a community, a kingdom, a society, which is not that different from the one in which we live today. And through Arthurian myths, we can make these new generations see life from the perspective of effort, the need to fight for things, and teach them that life is about ‘giving and receiving’ and not a unidirectional pathway.

THE BRITANNIA SAGA is a big bet, an epic story, full of magic and adventures that will take the reader to unique places, where courage and wit are fundamental to save life and honor. In this first volume of THE SAGA, Gwen is the daughter of queen Igraine, and Lance is a knight of the court. The princess, heir of the throne, is in big danger because Saxons have entered London and want to conquest the kingdom. Merlin (the famous magician) and Uriens have designed a plan for the princess to escape safe and sound. But in the darkness of the city, behind every corner, the spies of the Saxons are aware of a salvation plan that might be harder to execute than the magician believes. For all of you who enjoy Game of Thrones and The Lord of the Rings, this saga is not going to deceive you, you will devour the book but keep calm, there are still three other books to come and understand the great times of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table.

The new trimester has started, we’re back for three weeks now and the adaptation is different for every kid. As parents, we hope that if there is a change of school, as it is my case, the child, I mean, the teenager, fits well, make friends and especially surround himself with good companions. Friendships are important at this age, indeed, they are basic, I would say, because becoming a teenager is not easy and there are many ‘inputs’ that may have an effect on our everyday life. I do not want to be an overprotecting mum but neither do I want to be a too cool one, and the right balance is difficult to reach.

Those who have been through this can, perhaps, help us, novices, to face this new stage. For this reason after reading Santi Baró‘s book, MEMORIAS DE UN CADÁVER, I felt the need to recommend it to all the teenagers I know and to their parents as well. Bela, the protagonist, doesn’t achieve to adapt and has no friends. She doesn’t find any meaning in life and has many fears that she cannot get over. She thinks that the only way out is to close her eyes and let go, but is that really the only way out?

Santi Baró knows how to deal with this sensitive issue without hurting sensitivities and how to write down in black and white the problem that more than a teenager may have suffered without anyone of the family or friends aware of the situation. Because we don’t all live or see things the same way but we have to make an effort to put ourselves in the others’ shoes and to lend a hand if necessary. Not only teachers must work on this subject at school but also the parents themselves, for they are the first who must educate their children with values and give them the correct tools to be strong but also to learn to empathize, to help and not hurt the people around you.

With this reading we are taking a first step, and I congratulate the publishing house SM for having the courage to publish a book dealing with a tough subject. The subject is tough but it concerns anyone, and it’s even necessary to talk about it if it is treated with respect, sensitivity and that empathy Santi has with his audience. A brilliant novel that helps you think about life and death, but almost without realizing it…

There are still ads on TV of that trip that you could not do this summer, pictures of seaside villages, succulent hotels that make me feel longing for the holidays, while autumn is already knocking hard on the door. It is beginning to get colder, the first rains have already fallen, and the day is getting shorter and shorter and the sun, looser. But that feeling of nostalgia is positive, since it means I’ve spent a great summer, which is true, and that although the fall is not my favorite season, I know that good things are coming, because life has the color of the attitude with which you live, and I chose to see it green, the color of hope. A color that transmits calm and peace, but that does not make you lose the will to fight for things, or the illusion for every little step that you can take forward. That’s why, reading Francesc Miralles‘ new novel, UN RAYO DE ESPERANZA (a ray of hope), published by Plataforma Editorial, has been the icing on the cake.

It is a beautiful novel, where the characters live sadness, because life is not always happy, but they know how to extract the beauty out of this feeling and turn it into something positive. A poetic novel that gives you the keys to get away from situations that seem to be on the edge but they are not, no matter how we feel about them. And that novel gives you that glimmer of hope that we all need ever to convince us that if we want to, we can. Haven’t you ever wondered what you would take with you to a desert island? I’m sure you did, but here the question is: WHAT WOULD YOU SAVE FROM THE FIRE IF YOU COULD SAVE SOMETHING? Complicated and simple at the same time, we do not talk about people, but of one thing, material or not. The character realizes, on the last page, what she would save, and I can only say that I cannot agree more with her but, if you can to find it out, you will have to read this novel that comes straight from the heart, a heart like Francesc Miralles’ one, and we all know that is a guarantee of humility, humanity, and that is big.

Congratulations my friend, for that new novel with which we learn to be better and stronger in a world where nothing is perfect, in which we live very good moments but also very bad and inevitable ones, in which we suffer many disappointments, especially from people you wouldn’t expect … but so is the human kind, and we have to learn to live with this saddest part of life, without forgetting, though, that the most important thing is to change things up. Because if you want, you can do it. Each step is a challenge but, without challenges we would be dead, that’s why we have to look forward and keep on with a hopeful smile that, for me, cannot have another color than green.

After I saw Juan Antonio Bayona‘s movie, THE IMPOSSIBLE, I’ve always asked myself what live in that kind of countries, where a climate catastrophe can happen at anytime, can be like, like the filmmaker describes it in the movie which, by the way, I liked as much as the THE ORPHANAGE. In fact, I’m already wondering about when I will be able to go and see his last film, which will be released in October, because he is a director who has never let me down. Speaking of catastrophes, every time I see the images of the one we lived some years ago in Biescas in Spain, because in August it is the anniversary of the bloody flooding, I get goosebumps. I think that surviving something like this has to be brutal and has to mark your life forever. Unfortunately, there are always news of this kind, recently the earthquake in Italy this August, for example, and it sends shivers up my spine to think that nothing depends on you and that it is all something external, uncontrollable.

And, while I was reading Fernando Goitia‘s novel, LA SACUDIDA, in which a volcano collapses over three thousand people while the hurricane Mitch devastates Central America, I could not help thinking that we are lucky to live where we live and I do hope we know how to take care of the planet and that experts can try and keep struggling to control what is now uncontrollable. However, I loved Goitia‘s novel from the first moment, despite of the thought of disasters for a few minutes, because the protagonist, a Basque journalist arrives to the scene of the tragedy to make a report and dig up an individual without identity, dying between debris, and unknowingly saves the life of a man with whom he is doomed to face and has two things in common: both have their hands stained with blood and none of them is who they claim to be. Then begins a long journey, in a shattered land, where the two protagonists must face the truth. It is a novel about guilt and remorse, within a context of violence of nature, which is uncontrollable. What could be avoided is the violence caused by men, and this is why this thriller is so special because the two characters are murderers with divergent ideas, and they both live their lives with a dark past behind them… The reader will discover with them an interesting plot that ends with a big question: do we have the right to have a second chance?

This novel moves at a fast pace but that will also have the reader reflect on many aspects of very well constructed characters and won’t let you stop reading to learn more about who will be the victim and who is the executioner. And that’s all I can say, if not, I would reveal too much, and you readers must find out what happens and why. But I can guarantee that Fernando Goitia‘s debut won’t disappoint you. Also, it is an ideal opportunity to discover a new author that has been released and has passed with flying colors.

This week, the Catalan book fair takes place and it is the last book fair before the start of the school year. I know it sounds horrible but when the school year starts, then the total normality comes back, and it is a pity for some of us or a relief for some others. Anyway, what I would like to encourage is to start the school year with a book, because good stories always help and, for the readers that find in reading real moments of peace, of relaxation and well-being, it is really a luxury to have a book fair that helps to choose the adventure that will help you with the beginning of your routine.

Is there anything better than a good book to read during the weekends of September at a terrace when it’s no longer hot, but not cold neither? Or when you get home, tired of the entire day, what is better than sitting on the couch to keep on with that reading that has trapped you, even if it’s late, when all are sleeping and you have that half an hour just for yourself. It is definitely a luxury, and we have many novels that, if you haven’t read them yet, you should not miss… Because there is a book for every reader, as I have said many times, and all you have to do is meet with one another. That’s why this fair is an ideal time to choose. Let us remind you some of our novelties:

• LA HIJA DEL CAPITÁN GROC, by Víctor Amela, which is sweeping the market, because it captures both men and women, it is a great epic story but it also deals with feelings.
• ETHERIA by Coia Valls, the story of an intrepid traveler of the fourth century, and the last novel of a writer that no longer needs presentation.
• UN AÑO Y MEDIO by Sílvia Soler, more than a novel, it is a real brand of the house that leads us to think about life and family.
• SUEÑOS A MEDIDA by Núria Pradas, the novel tells a gripping story about fashion and the beginning of the flagship store of Barcelona, ​​Santa Eulalia.
• EL TIEMPO DE LA LUZ by Sílvia Tarragó, focused on the galleries of the Avenue of Light, these galleries no longer exist but they had their moment of glory in Barcelona, ​​and lives there put their bit.
• LA MONTAÑA MALDITA by Begoña García Carteron, another historical novel with strong characters that reveals a very turbulent period of Barcelona, ​​in a state of siege. Some powerful female characters that give us life to a hard history, and that many of us were unaware of.
• OPERACIÓ JUDES, by Jordi Solé, black and exciting novel of the detective Pol Vidal who, along with Detective Boix by Albert Villaró, and his novel LA BÍBLIA ANDORRANA, are a great gift for fans of this genre.
• UN PERRO by Alejandro Palomas, a fantastic novel that goes right to your heart, like UNA MADRE, that has already been reedited 11 times.
• DIAMANTE AZUL by Care Santos, magnificent novel by the great author of Mataró, whose mark transports us again to the first decades of the twentieth century.
• EL INFORME AHNENERBE, by Santi Baró, historical thriller, very well written, it will hook you up from the first page.
• LA FILLA DE LILITH by Glòria Sabaté, historical novel of medieval times in Barcelona. A new voice that we recommend without a doubt for the readers of that genre.

Here I leave a link about the official web of the fair, where will see the activities of the fair and the signatures of the authors. I encourage you to take a walk around the cathedral, always pleasant, so that you may find that book that will help you with the start of the season. As you can see, there is something for everyone and a book is always a gift so, although the slope of September is harsh, reading is a perfect complement and despite what some people would think, it is not expensive. So, have a good weekend full of readings and, as the slogan of the Fair says, DEVOUR THEM! And I would add: then you go for more.